Li Younan didn’t forget to buy a set of cosmetics for his mom. Although he called them cosmetics, they were actually more like skincare products. With his makeup skills, he naturally had an idea of what products would suit his mom’s skin type best.
But one thing must be mentioned: the older you get, the more expensive the effective skincare and cosmetic products become. Unlike young girls, especially those naturally beautiful ones, who can just put on some lipstick and look stunning.
Lan Yiyi noticed the set of cosmetics Li Younan bought and curiously asked, "Do you have a girlfriend now?"
Li Younan shook his head, "I bought it for my mom."
Lan Yiyi paused for a moment, her gaze more inquisitive, then she chuckled softly and said, "I’ll buy a set for my mom too, give me some recommendations."
The sales assistant felt that Li Younan was like a lucky charm, making three sales in a row. The frustration from just now, when Li Younan disrupted a sale of an expensive cosmetic set, quickly disappeared.
As they left, he sincerely bowed to Li Younan and the others, "Take care, sir, hope to see you next time!"
When leaving the store, it was time to part ways. Lan Yiyi was about to call a cab to meet her friends, and a taxi stopped in front of her. Lan Yiyi was about to get in but hesitated, then turned to ask Li Younan, "Li Younan, I still don’t really know you. Can I get to know you better?"
She lowered her head slightly, a hint of blush on her face.
Li Younan stepped forward cheerfully, "Of course, you can."
Lan Yiyi was taken aback, pleasantly surprised, then saw Li Younan holding up his phone, waving it in front of her—his short video homepage. Li Younan said, "This is my short video account, follow me, and you can get to know me better."
Lan Yiyi’s mouth twitched slightly, "Uh... alright."
Li Younan stepped back with a smile, "See you around."
Lan Yiyi thought of the line from the scene she acted with Li Younan and then fiercely said, "I’m going to be a big star in the future!"
"Good luck!"
"You too!"
After the taxi drove away, Xie Lin blankly asked, "Dude, was she just confessing to you?"
Li Younan was silent for a moment, then laughed easily, "No, not at all; we’ve only just known each other for a short time."
"Really? I think she might like you."
"I like Zhang Ruonan too."
"Uh, can that really be compared?"
"Pretty much the same."
The two strolled leisurely.
In the evening, Li Younan and Xie Lin had dinner with their girlfriends. This marked the end of their trip to Jinhua City.
After returning to the hotel, Li Younan thoughtfully sorted out the gains from this trip, which turned out quite nice. He got to meet an 18th-tier minor celebrity, experience a day in the life of an extra actor, and acquired a skill that seemed impractical now but should have multiple uses. Besides, he took some very impressive photos.
Li Younan organized those photos and stored them in a folder in his cloud drive. He renamed the album to "Freeze a Moment," filled with photos he considered stunning.
After completing these tasks, Li Younan lay on the bed, relaxing his mind. Suddenly, he remembered another pleasant surprise. He got his phone out again and opened the short video app. His first uploaded backflip video had over 30,000 likes, a viral success for an account with only one post. Additionally, his follower count had surpassed the 4,000 mark.
However, there was a slight disappointment. His second video, which shared a day in the life of an extra, had very low engagement, with only 300 likes. At that moment, self-doubt crept in. He thought this video should be quite interesting, but why were the views so low?
He checked the comments section. Scanning down, there were only a few dozen remarks. Most were uplifting comments like "Keep it up," probably from his new followers. Though heartwarming, these held little value.
As he continued, a comment filled with malice caught his attention: "Terrible script, illogical and dull video content, poorly made editing and post-production, even the voice-over is AI. This kind of video going viral would be a miracle. In summary, such good material was wasted. Also, the host knows how to do flips, looks handsome, yet none of it is shown in the video. Get a regular job; you’re not cut out for social media."
Admittedly, the comment was harsh. But thinking it over, perhaps the criticism wasn’t entirely unfounded. Those issues might genuinely be present. Li Younan had never done social media before and lacked experience.
The mild success of his first video was significantly due to luck, much like how some online novel authors aren’t quite sure why their books become hits; he didn’t really understand why his first video went viral.
Below that comment were a few opposing voices: "Are you such a short video social media expert?"
"The guy’s working hard!"
"If you don’t like it, don’t insult."
"Don’t you think your words are too harsh?"
The commenter, however, coldly retorted, "What do you even know?"
Curious, Li Younan clicked into the user’s profile. To his surprise, the account hadn’t published any content, offering no useful information. The ID was jk Dragon, featuring an avatar of a cigar-chomping Zoro, looking quite intimidating.
Li Younan felt a bit let down. It seemed the person was just all talk. Otherwise, if they truly understood social media, he wouldn’t mind seeking advice.
After a moment of silence, Li Younan shot the critic a message: "Are you involved in social media?"
Unexpectedly, the response was instant: "No!" The exclamation mark seemed quite definitive.
Feeling the coldness from this rejection, Li Younan constructed an image in his head of a grumpy man with crossed arms, a cigarette hanging from his mouth, annoyed by everything, and decided it’s best not to bother them.
Just as he was about to log off, the other person sent a message: "You totally have the potential to blow up. If you want to become popular, I can teach you how."
Surprised by the message, Li Younan paused, contemplating. After some thought, he replied, "Thanks, but no need."
After sending the message, it remained unread for a long time, so he turned off his phone.
The next day, Li Younan woke up naturally. He comfortably opened the curtains, grabbed his phone, seeing it was 7 a.m., not too early. He launched the short video app again to check if that video gained traction. Regrettably, there seemed to be no change compared to yesterday.
Just then, he noticed a direct message. The user jk Dragon’s contentless account had messaged an hour ago, simply saying: "Follow me back, I’ll send you something."
The short video platform had a feature limiting messages to multimedia content only between mutual followers. Intrigued, yet not pretentious, he promptly followed back. This jk Dragon, shining brightly between CCTV News and the Communist Youth League Central Committee on his following list, stood out.
Soon after, the other person sent a video.
After watching, Li Younan fell into silence.
The person then messaged, "You can edit based on my video, or directly send me the raw footage, I’ll help you with it."

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